"Our politicians are worthless in handling the climate crisis." During a meeting I overheard someone saying this. Climate change was not the subject of the meeting (in fact, we don't even work in a related subject area) nor are we ourselves politicians. The latest IPCC report was just published, which was the reason for discussing this subject. The speaker's argument was that we cannot make changes, because our politicians aren't up to the job. I know better than to get myself into a discussion with this person, but her statements did get me thinking. First of all I would have liked to know what she herself is doing to combat climate change. Growing up, I was taught that "a better environment starts with you", making me aware that all the small things matter. So I was happy to start with separating waste. But what is more, she got me thinking about how to get politicians that are up to making genuine changes. Our government consists of a coalition of parties. Inevitably, they are having to make concessions to each other and sometimes the environment is the subject that is compromised on. How then to get politicians who can govern without making concessions to the environment? Well, aren't we all raising tomorrows politicians? Our kids are the future and if we impress upon them the importance of protecting the environment, they might just be the generation of politicians to make a difference.

I know that my little girl and the stepkids are made aware because we separate our waste, because we try to source our produce locally if possible, because we use solar energy, because we consume little meat and we try to avoid plastic packaging. We are also looking into driving an electric car and we take them along in our considerations leading up to such decisions.

For me, my real environmental upbringing started a little later in life, when I met a colleague who later turned friend and who kept impressing upon me the importance of reconsidering my choices and what was wrong with decions I was making. It helped a lot that she was able to present me with better options. I have been trying to persuade this friend to set up her own blog about sustainability and bringing up kids, because she knows about both like no other. Haven't convinced her yet, though, so now I am trying to bring her on board for a guest blog or an interview. If you would be interested in reading her suggestions, let me know in a comment, it might help to convince her.

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